Where earth’s highest coastal mountain range meets the Caribbean Sea

Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona in northern Colombia is a protected area covering the foothills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Situated in Magdalena Department on the Caribbean coast, this national park is known for its beautiful beaches, rainforest and rich biodiversity. After our amazing Colombian Safari in Los Llanos, JJ and I flew to Santa Marta to begin the overland journey to Tayrona.

LOCATION

An Instagram photo of Ecohabs Tayrona led to my full-blown obsession with Colombia. The cozy bungalows, nestled in treetops overlooking Cañaveral beach just looked so idyllic. They’re built with native timber and thatched palm roofs, a design inspired by the indigenous settlements of Tayrona. Also, Parque Tayrona is one of the few places where it’s possible to spot the endemic cotton-top tamarin!

Ecohabs overlooking Playa de Cañaveral

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta from Ecohabs Tayrona

Ecohabs arranged a taxi from Santa Marta airport for us, which was about a one hour journey. The resort is located very close to the national park’s main entrance, known as Zaino. After purchasing our park entry wristbands from Zaino box office (COP44,000), our driver dropped us at the Ecohabs reception area.

We stayed in Ecohab 5 which I think was perfect. There was a great view of Cañaveral beach but not a crazy number of stairs to reach it. Playa Cañaveral, although lovely, isn’t actually safe to swim at because of its dangerous currents. However, there’s a smaller safe swimming beach called Playa Piscinita which can easily be accessed from the resort as well.

SERVICE + FACILITIES

All bungalows have an upstairs bedroom with flyscreens, a small balcony and ceiling fan, then a bathroom and outdoor lounge area downstairs. There’s dining furniture, hammocks a lockable drinks fridge and coffee maker in the outdoor area. As a bonus, we also had a rogue lizard living in the rafters that enjoyed pooing on the end of our bed. In one instance the lizard crapped on JJ’s head after he’d just showered 🙂 Other than the occasional reptile turd our bungalow was very clean and was serviced daily.

Inside Ecohab 5

The Ecohabs resort has (patchy) guest WiFi, a restaurant, 2 jacuzzis and a spa. Breakfast was included in our room rate. Lunch and dinner, we ordered from the restaurant at either the Piscinita beach kiosk or the restaurant itself. The food was good if a little pricey, but you have to consider what you’re really paying for – the unbeatable location. In hindsight, we should have been smart and brought a supply of drinking water with us. The resort doesn’t offer any complimentary water so you’re obliged to pay hotel minibar prices to stay hydrated.

It’s possible to arrange guided tours within the national park through the Ecohabs reception. When JJ and I arrived the concierge gave us a map of the park and pointed out various places of interest. We didn’t feel the need for a guided tour but if you ask there are a few options available. One of the staff members at the reception kept bringing us baby iguanas to hold. He obviously had an eye for wildlife spotting so we asked him where the best place to see tamarins was. As it turned out he was just the person, we weren’t disappointed!

Baby iguana

DAY 11 – TUESDAY

On our first day in Parque Tayrona, after settling into our bungalow we decided to walk to Playa Arrecifes. One of Tayrona’s longest stretches of beach, Arrecifes is the place to snap that iconic photo of the huge granite boulders. Like Cañaveral, the currents are dangerously strong at Arrecifes so it’s not a good spot for swimming. The trail is fairly busy as it’s part of the route to popular swimming beaches like La Piscina and Cabo San Juan. Our return hike took just under 2 hours and we arrived back at the resort at dusk to change for dinner.

Playa Arrecifes

DAY 12 – WEDNESDAY

Determined to spot the elusive cotton-top tamarins, we got up early to walk around the Zaino park entrance. I’d heard that there was a good chance of seeing animals in that area before it gets busy with day-trippers. We came across a group of red howler monkeys which was pretty cool.

Red howler monkey

From the entrance, we continued onto the Nueve Piedras (Nine Stones) trail. The 9 stones are a series of egg-like rocks standing at points throughout the rainforest. These rocks have perfectly round holes through the middle and are thought to be something to do with cosmology/astronomy. Only the pre-Colombian Tairona tribes knew the real purpose of the Nueve Piedras. JJ and I had this trail all to ourselves and the hike only took us about an hour – the scenery was spectacular! We finished our walk at Cañaveral just in time for breakfast.

Nueve Piedras trail – Indiana Jones’ next adventure

For the rest of the day, we alternated between swimming at Playa Piscinita and chilling in our Ecohab hammocks.

DAY 13 – THURSDAY

Another day of relaxing, going for the occasional swim and trying to spot monkeys. That afternoon our friend the wildlife man came to alert us that he’d seen a family of tamarins nearby. We threw on our shoes and tiptoed a short distance down a service track behind our bungalow. Sure enough, there were 2 adult cotton-tops with their tiny babies in a neighbouring tree. DAY. MADE.

I’d read a lot of mixed reviews about Tayrona before deciding to go, (many stating how overpriced and crowded it is). Compared to some other parts of Colombia, yes prices are inflated, however, the park is truly stunning. Who can blame local businesses for profiting from people’s desire to visit this special place? In terms of overcrowding, we didn’t really experience this as we visited during the week and the offseason. It’s worth steering clear of weekends and peak months if you want to avoid mass tourism at this major attraction.

DAY 14 – FRIDAY

After breakfast, the same driver that picked us up at Santa Marta Airport came to take us to Cartagena. Read the post all about our time in this pretty colonial town here.

Pin this post for later:

Pin my packing list: